On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - Definition

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000) is non-fiction by Stephen King. It consists of three major parts.

Stephen King's 'On Writing' is dedicated to writing fiction; well at least some parts of it are on topic. A lot of the book is about Stephen King's childhood and his near-fatal accident in 1999. If you haven't read any other of King’s novels, this is not really a good novel to start with, but for seasoned readers, 'On writing' will be quite exciting.

The first section of the book is best described as an autobiography. It centers on literature and writing. The reader is introduced to King's path from a child copying stories from comics to the author of novels develop and complex novels (like It or The Shining). Other issues such as King's drug problems, for instance, are also freely discussed.

The second section is more of a manual on how a “competent writer can become a good one.” The reader finds out more about the peculiarities of King's writing style. King goes on about writing his novels and why they develop the way they do.

The third (much shorter) part is once again autobiographical; it deals with the events that happened in 1999 after King was nearly killed in a car crash. This part deals with King's struggle to start writing and his memories from the car crash.